In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in 1¼ cups (63 grams) coconut and vanilla. Divide batter between prepared pans.

Place in a cold oven. Bake at 300°F (150°C) until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.

14 COMMENTS

thank you for reaching out. We’re sorry you’re having trouble finding whole buttermilk in your area. We purchase it at our local Piggly Wiggly and Whole Foods. Some curb markets also carry it. In a pinch, you can make your own by adding a tablespoon of lemon juice to a scant cup of whole milk. Stir it together, and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the mixture starts to curdle. It won’t be quite as thick as what you can purchase in a store, but it should work. Happy Baking!

Thank you for reaching out! What the directions mean by this is to place the pans in the oven before you pre-heat the oven. First, put the pans in the oven and then turn the oven on to 300°F and keep the pans in the oven even as the oven pre-heats. Hope this clears things up for you. Happy Baking!

My cake did not rise. I followed the directions to the letter and it didn’t rise. Could out of date [July 2019} baking powder be the cause? I whipped butter and sugar for 4 min. Then added eggs one at a time and beat for 1 min between additions . What is wrong.? Tom

Expired baking powder could definitely be the culprit here. A great way to check if your baking powder is still active is to conduct a quick test. To test if baking powder is still active, spoon 1/2 teaspoon in a bowl and pour 1/4 cup of boiling water over it. Right away it should bubble up violently. If it does, it’s still good. If it doesn’t, discard it and open a new tin. Another issue might have been overmixing once the flour was added, creating a denser, less-likely to rise cake. We hope this helps!

I just made this and it turned out perfectly. The only things I did differently were: made one loaf instead of two, since I have a small family and we’ve all been doing a lot of baking lately to amuse ourselves; and I used unsweetened shredded coconut instead of sweetened—it was plenty sweet without the added sugar. This was my first experience with this recipe, and I am very pleased.

Bake from Scratch is a bi-monthly publication from Hoffman Media. Create beautiful, artisan baked goods, discover the world’s best bakeries, movers and shakers in today’s baking culture, products that should be in every baker’s pantry, new cookbooks, and more.